


sanity by any other name

by edel_im



Series: fire under the rain [4]
Category: Big Bang (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Cop AU, F/M, One Shot, Police Partners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 17:56:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7693924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edel_im/pseuds/edel_im
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That time when she's high and hungover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sanity by any other name

Seung Hyun cuts the call the fourth time it goes to voicemail. His partner was not answering her phone and there's a crime scene waiting for them to be inspected. She had gone out with the guys last night and apparently went home late after drinking and karaoke. Celebrations like that aren't rare in the station and regardless of activities the previous night, it's not like her to come in so late when work calls. She'd always been the _let's-do-this_ type of person.

"Inspector Choi, we need you to look into some evidence we found," a lab technician called from a few feet away, crouched with another staff as they gathered more human remains.

A few minutes ago the chief coroner had confirmed the initial presenting evidence to point into murder, hence granting jurisdiction to the Seoul Police to begin gathering evidence for a case. It seemed the body had been decomposing for about two months, and there was evident head trauma that could likely be the cause of death. That only raises more questions, ones that would be answered when they start interrogating witnesses. And to do that he needs his partner. Where was she?

The sound of a car pulling up makes him turn, and he finds her hopping from the vehicle before it even stops, one hand holding a can of coffee and another fumbling to clip her I.D. onto her collar.

"I'm here! I'm here!" She calls out, sheepishly smiling as she jogs towards him. "I'm sorry." She repeats the apology in a whisper upon stopping in front of him. "My car broke down and I had to wait for the forensics to come by the road, which is just me hoping but as luck would have it they did happen to pass and so--" Elle was distractedly talking to him, still fumbling with the clip that just wouldn't catch on her collar. Coffee was sloshing on her other hand from the still-full canister and he got tired of watching so took the I.D and clipped it on her.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"Thanks. I--" She looks up from wiping the coffee on her hand and actually stops. He could only interpret the expression that settles on her face as a mix of surprise and confusion. "I forgot! I had my phone all this time and I could have called you!"

Then she proceeds to show him said device and laughs, looking down on it like it's a never-before-been gadget. The lab technician from earlier passes by and he understands the weirded-out look thrown to his partner.

"Well, next time you call me. Right now, we gotta work."

 

An hour later they've interrogated the man who found the body and the team had packed the rest of the evidence to be sent to the coroner's lab. Elle seemed more enthusiastic for some reason, jumping into the questioning when he usually takes over. Even her usual organized scribbling on her colored notepad was hurried and not at all in her preferred organized and well-aligned format.

She hitches a ride with him, and though quiet kept moving around and fumbling with her phone and his glove compartment that he's eventually forced to call her out.

"What is wrong with you?"

"It's the coffee, I think." She smiles at him. "Can you pull over? I need to go to the bathroom."

"Wha-- Now?" They were practically in the middle of nowhere. The only hope of privacy for her, should he really decide to pull over, is the sparse number of trees along the road.

"Well yeah, unless you want me to do it in here."

His _You're unbelievable_ was only answered by her _Hurry, hurry_ and some squirming into the seat. He finally pulls over and a second later she's out of the car hollering for him not to dare a peek. Seung Hyun rolls his eyes, estimating the distance from here until the next decent car stop and groans when he realizes they may have to make a couple more pull overs if her bladder becomes demanding again. She's beaming when she returns and god forbid even giddy as she tells him they could again go now.

 

  

 

Their drive to the station is temporarily waylaid when a call comes from the coroner regarding new evidence. They're in the middle of an update when she brings a hand up and sheepishly excuses herself yet again. Even the exasperated look Seung Hyun shoots her is waved away but only because she's already halfway through the door. Jung Ryeo Won, the head coroner, nods after her.

"What's up with the partner today?"

"Coffee." He sighs. "Apparently she's trying a new brand and it's not agreeing with her."

"Depends on what effect she's after." Ryeo Won actually grins. "At least you won't be complaining she's hungover. After everything that happened last night, I'm impressed she can even pay attention to me."

"What happened?"

"It's not my secret to share but let's just say the doctor sure knows how to have a good time."

Elle interrupts what could have been his reply when she returns, a liter of water on hand. She beams at Ryeo Won and deliberately ignores him.

"So, you were saying something about bugs and time of death?"

 

 

  

Once when they had gone out to arrest another possible suspect - the victim's brother - he had to come round the car and open the door for her because her hands were trembling.

"You should see a doctor."

"I _am_ the doctor, dummy."

She wasn't looking close to one at the moment. Frankly, if there had not been a case to work on, Seung Hyun would have demanded to hook her into something. He'd been hungover before but it didn't look like this. She sways as soon as she stands and Elle has to hold onto the car to keep from falling.

"I don't feel so good."

"Really? I can't tell."

"Hey! You can be a little compassionate."

"I'm not the one who drank myself enough to start dancing on top of a table." This time it was he who deliberately ignores her glare. She's pumped on alcohol and caffeine and it would not be rational to argue. Besides he wasn't going to risk making his points known when she could seize in front of him or worse, die. That would be a lost cause. Goodness, for someone who's supposedly an expert on the concept of health, she sure doesn't live it. "Stay here, I'll get the brother. Drink your water."

 

 

 

By the end of the day she's downed approximately three liters of water, had gone to the bathroom more times than he would in a week and thrown up twice (or so by his count). Her hands had trembled less and even the constant movement her legs make when she's seated had been substituted with the option to pace _behind_ him in the interrogation room. It drove the civilians to distraction but that's better than having him glare at her periodically and ruin the flow of the investigation. Despite her condition, the case turns out to be one of the fastest ones they closed.

The victim had been killed by his brother over a fight that involved betting on horses and a winning ticket. Their suspect recounted in vivid detail and with abhorring enjoyment how he first tortured and subsequently dismembered his brother, even claiming that he would have done it again for twice the amount of money involved.

Substance effect or not, Seung Hyun thought it appropriate when she says _I think I'm going to be sick_ and proceeds to hurl onto the waste bin on the corner of the room.

 

 

  

"What's this?"

Elle looks up from her cross-legged sit on the bed as she accepts the glass filled with moss green liquid, wrinkling her nose at the smell when she catches a whiff of it.

"Wow, this smells awful."

"It tastes the same," he sits beside her, laying back with hands under his head and feet lifted to the opposite double deck. "Drink up. In doctor talk it's something that basically.. _detoxifies_." He spits out the word with flare and a wave of his hand as if he's saying something French.

"And you're giving me this just now?" Of course her indignation is well founded. They could have saved time and endless trips to the bathroom, not to mention episodes of getting sick. He merely shrugs in reply.

"I didn't want to ruin all the fun you're having."

"You still hate me, don't you?"

"Just drink up."

She starts to mutter that she could have been thanking him now but he prods at her back so she glares from the rim of the glass and drinks. The taste is as awful as she imagined; she has to take deep breaths to keep from gagging. Once done, she thrusts the glass onto his stomach, relishing  the resounding grunt it produces.

"No need for thanks."

"I'm not saying it," she grumbles, still wincing at the aftertaste. Water at least seemed to chase most of it away.

Elle lifts her knees, wrapping her arms around them. It's been two hours since he sent her up to the quarters following her ungraceful stint at the interrogation room. If no cases come up for the rest of the night, she plans on sleeping here. Her driving skills are useless anyway; there's hardly anything to see beyond a few feet in front of her. She eventually curls back up on the remaining space on the other end, pulling the blanket over her.

The hum of the air conditioning slips into the silence between them, and no one makes mention that he doesn't budge or that her usual stubbornness doesn't push him from her space. Some time passes before anyone moves and she hears Seung Hyun say,

"We did good."

Had he not talked it would look like he'd fallen asleep, what with the rest of his features set into a somewhat calm façade that's both peculiar and rare for him. She grins, belatedly regretting it when her head starts pounding again, "Wow, that's a first."

There's a shadow of a smile on his face when he grumbles. Elle thinks her partner could be attractive if he puts effort to it. Not that she'd tell him, or that she'd deliberately notice. Strong features, intense eyes and tall, lithe well-defined bodies aren't much her type anyway. Definitely not when they're crossing their arms and peeking back at her now with one amused eye and a grin.

"Yep."

Her scoff makes the grin go wider, but she has closed her eyes after another bout of throbbing and misses it. That's the same reason she doesn't know his attention on her stays a bit longer than usual, or how he takes time to notice the dimple on her cheek when the her lips purse or the slight return of her coloring after being sick most part of the day. When Elle nudges him repeatedly and demands he take another bed because she's already occupied this one, he only grunts a non-committing _Mm-hm_ and turns to the other side. 

They both fall asleep quickly after.


End file.
